So "I Heart Faces" only allows for 1 photo to be submitted, but I just had to share the others, because Amara seriously was the sweetest sleeper.



1 Month Old here:


15 Months Old here - look at the little curls finally starting to come in:


Evidence that Dominic did occasionally sleep - 5 weeks old here:


He just preferred to sleep ON people. The date's wrong on this picture -- should be 7/26 -- so he was 1 month old.

A few months ago I discovered "I Heart Faces" and the beautiful photos just captivated me. I haven't participated much, but this week, the theme is "Sweet Dreams" and I just couldn't resist.

My first born has always been such a peaceful sleeper. I just looked back through my photos and found several of her sleeping so beautifully -- it was hard to narrow down an entry (I'll have to post the other ones, t00).

My second born, on the other hand -- I could only find one sleeping picture. He just didn't sleep long enough to get the camera out! Thankfully he sleeps MUCH better now, but he was definitely not a sleeping infant!

So here is my submission for "I Heart Faces" Week 48 Challenge. My daughter, age 5 weeks, with my husband. It's actually been made into a scrapbook page, hence the text.

We went to our local Christmas parade today.

Not knowing the exact route (should have checked), we positioned ourselves nearly at the end of the parade. By the time the line snaked its way to us, the walkers were weary, the waves weren't quite as spirited, the singing was quieter.... and the candy was nearly gone.

*Gasp* the horror -- no candy!

And for whatever reason... the kids immediately in front of our kids were getting all the candy that was being dispersed. Not just the candy tossed, but also the candy handed out. The paraders would come over to the side of the road, give the other kids their candy, then completely skip our kids. Even the other two children with us would get candy, and they'd skip A&D. Not sure why...

Anyway, Amara did get frustrated with it, completely not understanding why she was getting skipped. Frankly, neither did I.

I know it was more the hurt of being skipped than the candy though -- it was all nasty candy in the first place!

After being passed by for the um-teenth time, I said, "Amara, do we still have Halloween candy at home?" She answered, "Yes." I asked, "Do we still have a lot more Halloween candy at home that what they're throwing here?" She answered, "Yes."

And suddenly, all was right with the world.

Now each time she got passed by, she turned to me and said, "That's OK, we've got a TON of candy at home."

Don't get me wrong -- she still dove after every starlight mint that came her way (gag), but she was OK with not getting their first.

Why is it that my heart hurts so bad to see my kids getting passed over for something as frivolous as candy I don't even like (nor do they)? And how much can I learn myself from my daughter's lesson in perspective? Why do I need "more" of any material thing when I've already got plenty at home?

In fact... because of Jesus Christ, I have everything I could ever want.

John 3:30 "He must become greater. I must become less."

Santa came to my office yesterday (in the form of one of my co-workers). So all of us gathered up our kids to come tell him what they wanted, eat some candy and cookies, some Chick-fil-a, and watch Merry Madagascar.

Neither Jon nor I grew up believing in Santa, so we haven't made it a priority for the kids either. He's more of a "fun game" than anything, and certainly I don't want my kids to spoil it for other kids, so I'm trying to walk through all of that. But anyway, I didn't realize just how little they knew about Santa until they got up there and sat on his lap.

They just sat.

They didn't ask for anything. When he asked what they wanted, they said, "I don't know." When he asked what they liked, they said, "I don't know." Dominic finally said, "Yes, I like that!" when Santa asked about cars, and decided that he wanted cars with a race track. Amara told him that she wanted a reindeer -- but when I reminded her that she HAS a reindeer, she said, "Yes, but I want to give that one to Dominic, so I want a new one." I told her she didn't need another -- especially if she was going to give her old one away. So she ended up not really telling Santa she wanted anything. Easy to please, I guess!


What she DID tell Santa was this, "Santa, I think you're cool, but I love Jesus more."

Yes, I did tell her to say that, but I thought it was funny that she did. Santa laughed, and said, "I love him, too." ("Santa" has been a worship leader at a local church for several years.) When Dominic heard Santa's reaction, he ran up to Santa and said, "I love Jesus the most, too." Santa laughed and said, "Oh good, I love him most, too!"

It was so funny. The night before when I told the kids to say that, the kids were very concerned about hurting Santa's feelings. They said, "Mom, we need to love everyone!" I assured them (knowing who Santa was) that Santa wouldn't care. I also told them that I know they love ME, but that I hope they love Jesus more than me -- and that it doesn't hurt my feelings. That apparently made it alright in their mind.

After visiting Santa, Amara asked me, "Mom, do you think that was the real Santa?" Already the skeptic. :) I told her, "I don't know baby, there are a lot of Santa's around -- keeps you guessing, doesn't it."

I've been under some pretty intense pressure (ahem...) lately to blog. Truth is, I haven't had anything to say. (No comments from the peanut gallery... I fully realize my old nicknames and reputation).

But I thought it would be fun, as I get into the Christmas spirit, to look back at Christmases past. These are the oldest Christmas picture I could find on my computer. They're from Christmas 2002.

So what was going on in Christmas 2002?

Jon's side of the family was still living in Oregon -- so this was Christmas at their house. I do believe that Jessica and Matt were married in May of that year, and were expecting Tish in April of 2003. I don't recall if Ann and Donny were engaged yet... but maybe? Jon and I were kidless at that point. Look at that long hair I was sporting! Wish I could grow it back! If memory serves, Luke and Matt (and Jess) were in Colorado, Ann was in California, we were in Buffalo (?), and Mom and Dad were in Oregon. It's hard to believe that was only 7 years ago -- seems like SO much longer! I also believe that healthwise, this was a very pivotal Christmas.

My side of the family was in South Dakota. Prior to kids, we were able to go to one family for a week, then fly to the other family for the second week. I do believe that 2002 was the year that we were flying from South Dakota back to Buffalo in order to fly out to Oregon (it was cheaper that way)... when we got to Chicago, we saw that Buffalo had 6 feet of snow and was expecting more. We rerouted our flights, paid the change fee, and headed to Oregon, hoping that our bags would eventually make it (they did the next day). When all was said and done, Buffalo had 9 feet of snow! So glad we didn't get stuck there!

Anyway, so my side of the family. Our tradition has always been to have my brother and I, my aunt, and both sets of Grandparents join us for every holiday (and every birthday, and really every occasion you can imagine celebrating). My cousins have always lived far away, and it was awesome when they were able to join us, but that only was able to happen a few times. As you can see, in 2002, they weren't with us. My Grandmother also wasn't with us, as she was in a nursing home with Alzheimers. We did go visit her as well -- 2002 was to be her last Christmas, as she died in November 2003.


I love looking back at old photos. Over Thanksgiving last week we were talking about our childhood memories. I have so many fond and just plain amazing childhood memories. I also have a bajillion photos to look back on. And I think the two are directly correlated. I fail to discern whether it's a true memory, or just beloved stories attached to worn photographs. But does it matter? I'm part of two awesome families with a huge, rich legacy.

I'm determined to pass that legacy onto my children. And in the process...no matter how crazy it drives the rest of my family...I intend to document every step of the way with a bajillion more photos (thank you digital camera), so they can have the same "golden glow" of memories that I do.